The 2020 Courage in Student Journalism recipient is BluePrints magazine at Cedar Shoals High School in Athens, Georgia, which pressed a local school board and newly appointed board member for honesty and transparency.
VERMONT — When the University of Vermont instituted a hiring freeze due to COVID-19, the administration decided to hire an interim student media adviser already working at the school as a professor of English. But they did so without permission or input from the independent outlets that would work with this adviser. Now, just over… Continue reading UVM hires new adviser without student media’s input; adviser threatens editor’s job
The Student Press Law Center joins the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education and the Native American Journalists Association in demanding that Haskell Indian Nations University President Ronald Graham rescind unconstitutional threats toward the editor of the student newspaper. Along with other "directives," Graham forbade the student newspaper editor from interviewing government agencies and from "attack[ing]"… Continue reading SPLC signs on to letter urging Haskell Indian Nations University administration to rescind unconstitutional directives to student editor
For excellence in examining how allegations of sexual assault among students were handled on campus - sparked by a criminal case against a then-college trustee charged with sexually assaulting a student, The Linfield Review, at Linfield University, is the recipient of the Student Press Law Center’s 2019 Reveille Seven College Press Freedom Award.
The Student Press Law Center has named four new members to its Board of Directors to serve its mission to support, promote and defend the First Amendment rights of student journalists and their advisers at the high school and college levels.
UPDATE — The University of California San Diego settled a First Amendment lawsuit with a student-run satirical publication on Sept. 8, 2020, which legal experts say secured significant protections for student journalists against financial censorship. The lawsuit stemmed from a controversial November 2015 article from The Koala, a satirical newspaper on campus. The student government… Continue reading University settles lawsuit with satirical campus publication, affirming 1A protections for students
We honor Constitution Day by recognizing we have the right, and the responsibility, to uphold one of the First Amendment’s core values: to protect and support the free press – including student press freedom. On Constitution Day we need to recognize and fight to protect the rights of student journalists to report the news fairly… Continue reading Celebrating Student Press Freedom on Constitution Day
The Student Press Law Center and the New England First Amendment Coalition are calling on public school administrators across New England to protect the speech and press rights of students as they return to class this fall.
The Student Press Law Center, joined by seven press freedom and First Amendment groups, has sent the following Letter of Concern in response to repeated clashes between officers of the Richmond Police Department and journalists covering protests for racial justice this summer. In recent months, journalists, including several college journalists, have been pepper sprayed, tear… Continue reading SPLC & seven groups send Letter of Concern to police chief and mayor of Richmond, Va. over mistreatment of journalists covering protests
Sarah Verpooten watched as a parent at an Aug. 3 school board meeting advocated for returning to in-person classes. He was speaking into the microphone when he pulled down his mask to wipe his nose, pulled his mask back up, and continued speaking. That meeting resulted in a “very surprising vote” to return to in-person… Continue reading Student media advisers say they’re anxious about going back to school during COVID-19
